Monday, November 28, 2016

I made a few stops on a cold, sunny morning (low 20's) on my way to Northampton including Winsor Dam and Arcadia. Winsor Dam featured a single female Black Scoter and hundreds of gulls leaving their roost heading off to the southwest. Arcadia once again featured two Cackling Geese among the 500+ Canada Geese. Other waterfowl there included a couple Wood Ducks, 16 Black Ducks, 68 Mallards, a Northern Pintail, a Green winged Teal and half a dozen Common Merganser. The next few days look to feature some heavy rain and possibly some freezing rain tomorrow morning. I won't have much of a chance to get out the next several days so hopefully nothing too good shows up around here.

Today dawned very foggy so I decided to head over to Arcadia instead of waiting for the fog to lift at Quabbin. Despite the fog that never lifted through mid morning at Arcadia I still managed to find some good stuff including a couple Cackling Geese in among 500+ Canada Geese as well as a late Eastern Phoebe. I didn't have any luck finding the Red headed Woodpecker that has been seen in the area sporadically. I then headed across the river checking various fields without finding too much. I was also unable to find the Brant at the campus pond this morning but it may have been with a group of geese feeding elsewhere. A late morning stop at Winsor Dam just as it started to rain again found a pair of White winged Scoters but not much else.

After a good nights sleep I got up at dawn on Friday and headed over to Quabbin where the weather was less than ideal with low clouds, fog and drizzle. I spent a bit of time trying to find stuff on the water despite the limited visibility at times. I managed to find just the expected species with nothing unusual around. The weather didn't get any better so I headed for home. Around midday I noticed the weather had improved slightly with increased visibility so I headed back to Winsor Dam and scanned the nearly dead calm water and noticed a diving duck way out that I could just not ID so I decided to try my luck by heading over to gate 5 and then viewing from there. I made it over there and as I walked down toward the water I had some great looks at an Eastern Coyote. A scan of the reservoir once I made it down to the water turned up a group of three Long tailed Ducks and a few Common Loons. I could see the duck I had from Winsor Dam off to the south but still too far away to identify. I then walked down the shoreline almost to gate 4 before I was able to get a good enough look to identify it as another Long tailed Duck. On my way back out I noticed a small group of geese had come in and among them was a single Red necked Grebe. By the time I made it back to the car the clouds and fog had dropped back in again and the drizzle started again.

I had just a little time on Thanksgiving to check anywhere as I was tired from work and didn't have the energy to spend too much time outside. I stopped briefly at Winsor Dam and my time there was rewarded with a flyby Cackling Goose in among a small flock of Canada Geese as well as half a dozen Black Scoters, a Ring necked Duck and nine Hooded Mergansers on the water.

On the last warmish day for the foreseeable future I headed over to the areas along the river with stops at Arcadia, various fields in Amherst and Hadley and then over to Quabbin Park. It was a nice day to be outside with temps that eventually made it to the mid to upper 50's. Nothing too unusual but I did have some good stuff including a few hundred geese at Arcadia, a Brant with nearly six hundred Canada Geese in Hadley and nine species of waterfowl at Quabbin Park.

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 20, 2016

The windy weather brought in some decent birds on Sunday at Winsor Dam including a Golden Eagle moving rapidly southeast being pursued by a Bald Eagle. The Golden Eagle became species #236 for Hampshire County this year. I also had a couple flyby Greater Scaup at the dam that also moved rapidly past. We were lucky to have just gotten some rain with occasional snow mixed in when nearby areas in the hills got upwards of a foot of snow.

I felt under the weather yesterday so couldn't get out much but given the cold and windy conditions it was probably not a good idea to be outside anyway.

I was feeling better this morning and checked a few areas while I ran some errands with the highlights being the continued Brant at UMASS and the Red headed Woodpecker and 220+ Brown headed Cowbirds at Lake Wallace.

Meanwhile the tropics have not gone completely to sleep for the season just yet with the formation of Tropical Storm Otto off the coast of Nicaragua yesterday. The storm is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall in Costa Rica just over the border with Nicaragua. If it indeed does landfall in Costa Rica it will be the first time this has happened since records began there (way back in 1851). The main threat will be heavy rain resulting in flooding and landslides. Hopefully it won't cause too many problems down that way.

I finally had a full day off and I spent the morning covering a wide area from Quabbin over the the river and down to the Holyoke Dam. Some decent stuff around on a sunny and (eventually) warm day. Highlights are below:

Quabbin Park/Winsor Dam: Seven species of waterfowl including three flyby Long tailed Ducks and some photogenic Bald Eagles at Winsor Dam and 14 Horned Grebes at Hank's Meadow.

Hadley: Brant in among large flock (660+) of Canada Geese including one with extensive white on the face and neck. The Brant was very tough to find as it was frequently blocked by the much larger Canada Geese. It appears the Brant is the individual that has been hanging out at the UMASS campus pond for weeks now as the pond did not have a Brant when I checked.

Connecticut River-Hadley: A long tailed Duck.

Honey Pot: Very few sparrows around with nothing unusual despite checking several areas...I'm sure once we get a little snow the birds remaining will get a little more concentrated.

Holyoke Dam: a few hundred Canada Geese and hundreds of gulls of three species (most numerous being Ring billed Gull by far).

Lake Wallace: No sign of the Red headed Woodpecker during a brief stop

Brant, Hadley, MA, Nov 17, 2016

Peregrine Falcon and Northern Harrier, Hadley, MA, Nov 17, 2016

Red throated Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 17, 2016

I made it for a short time in the morning on Thursday before I had to be in Deerfield for a class and I had a few good sightings including a Pine Siskin with a group of goldfinches flying past in Quabbin Park and a large group of Canada Geese in Hadley which included a Brant and a Red throated Loon at Winsor Dam...not quite the 50+ Red throated Loons seen in Berkshire County a few days ago but any Red throated Loon inland is nice to see.

I had to take a class in Franklin County this morning so I left a bit early to head up to Turners Falls to try my luck in catching up with a Mountain Bluebird found by James Smith a couple days ago at the Turners Falls Airport. It had shown well the last couple sunny days but I didn't have a chance to try for it until this morning due to work and other commitments. I was not sure if the bird would show itself due to the cloudy weather with occasional drizzle. The previous day it showed around 6:45 in the morning and I arrived there just before seven this morning and a quick scan didn't turn up the bird but by the time I made my second scan just after seven the bird was sitting on one of the airport signs fairly close to the viewing area. I watched it for a bit as it occasionally would drop down to feed or fly to a new perch. The bird was not only a county and state record for me but was actually a life bird, becoming species #1208. I really wish the bird had decided to turn up in Hampshire County but perhaps the next one will continue a bit further south for me. Mountain Bluebird has only been recorded eight times before in the state with the records split evenly between spring and late fall/early winter with the bird in Turners Falls being a first county record. As the bluebird showed so quickly for me I still had a little extra time so I cruised by Barton's Cove which held just Mute Swans (a dozen) and three Canada Geese including one individual with some extra white on the face. The power canal was also very quiet with just a couple pairs of Mallards, five Common Goldeneyes and six Common Mergansers.

Following the strong northwest winds yesterday and overnight I made it over to the dam bright and early to see if any waterfowl moved in overnight and I eventually had a total of 17 Bufflehead there plus flyby Black Ducks, Mallards, Canada Geese, four Common Mergansers and a few Common Loons. I also checked Quabbin Park and Beaver Lake and turned up more waterfowl as well as the Spotted Sandpiper present for several days now. Other notables included a couple flyover Evening Grosbeaks at the Route 9 marsh, a few Snow Buntings and Horned Larks and a few hundred crows migrating. I added a single White winged Scoter during a brief stop back at the dam in the late afternoon. I found a total of a dozen species of waterfowl over the course of the day.

I had high hopes yesterday that I would find something good as a cold front was forecast to move through around 9AM and result in a strong northwest wind which would hopefully move some birds. The date of November 11 also has some great history for me at the dam with two first Hampshire County records occurring there for me on this date with a King Eider in 2013 and a Pacific Loon in 2015. I arrived and found the winds still out of the southwest (they didn't turn to the northwest until a little after ten but once they did they stayed strong for the rest of the day). I was joined for part of the morning by Mike, Devin and Aidan. Most of the waterfowl I had for the morning was early on before the winds shifted and made viewing anything on the water nearly impossible. Although nothing unusual showed up there was a decent movement of raptors with seven species noted...perhaps my luck at the dam on November 11th occurs every other year...I guess I will find out next year.

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 10, 2016

Common Loon, Quabbin Gate 5, Belchertown, MA, Nov 10, 2016

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 10, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 10, 2016

On what would be the first of three mornings that I would spend around south Quabbin I turned up three Long tailed Ducks, 10 Bufflehead, several loons and the continued Spotted Sandpiper at Gate 52.

Brant, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Nov 9, 2016

Horned Grebes, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 9, 2016

On Wednesday I started at Quabbin Park and then travelled over to Amherst and then down through Hadley before heading back home. Quabbin park had the typical species plus a trilling screech owl that I was never able to find despite sounding like it was right next to me. The lingering Brant continued at the campus pond. The rest of my travels didn't turn up anything unusual.

On Friday morning I spent a cold and windy morning at Winsor Dam in search of migrants taking advantage of the northwest winds and had some rewards for being out in the cold including some spectacular acrobatics from a few Bald Eagles, 32 Brant flying south (seen distantly through scope), 16 Black Scoters, 26 Long tailed Ducks and four Bufflehead. I was joined for part of my time there by Devin but he arrived just a few minutes too late to see the best part of the eagle show.

Red necked Grebes, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2016

Sunday morning found me at Winsor Dam once again after work and the dam was once again very windy which made viewing a bit of a challenge but I nonetheless turned up 22 Long tailed Ducks, 2 White winged Scoters, 2 Red necked Grebes and 4 Horned Grebes. I wish I had more to spend there as the winds promised to bring in more good stuff but I was exhausted (another group at Quabbin Park had a Golden Eagle and a White winged Crossbill fly by!)

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 8, 2016

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 8, 2016

Gate 52 looking northeast, the small peninsula in front is normally under a few feet of water, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 8, 2016

Red headed Woodpecker, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Nov 8, 2016

Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Nov 8, 2016

After work today I headed for home but not before a brief stop along the river and Hadley and then over to Quabbin Park. The river in Hadley had just over a hundred Mallards plus one each of Black Duck and Green winged Teal. Quabbin Park held some great birds during my time at Gate 52 including a fly by Pine Grosbeak and a late Spotted Sandpiper. I tried to get a recording of the grosbeak but it was too far past by the time I started recording. At least I got some photos of the sandpiper! This is my latest Spotted Sandpiper record in the area and only the second November or December record for the Connecticut Valley in eBird, The Pine Grosbeak was a pleasant surprise and added a new species for the county for the year bringing my total to 235 (although this species was not predicted to be irruptive into the area this year several have turned up in lower New England in the last few days). After my time at Quabbin I went home and picked up Wilson and we went for a walk at Lake Wallace where we once again had the Red headed Woodpecker as well as at least eight Rusty Blackbirds. During all my stops this morning it was once again surprising to see just how low the water is at various bodies of water due to our ongoing drought. At Quabbin Park the water level is as low as I have ever seen it with the water level down several feet (as of November the level is at 80.6%)...Lake Wallace was equally very low....we really need rain!